Public Funds for Immigration Purposes

Under UK immigration laws, access to certain public services is dependent on a person’s immigration status. This chapter provides details of what services are classed as ‘public funds’ for immigration purposes.

Later chapters provide information on how to identify whether a person has access to public funds and whether other forms of assistance may be available.

Key Facts

3.1 Social Security Benefits

The definition of a ‘public fund’ is set out in the Immigration Rules, and does not include all services provided by or funded by public bodies, but only specific benefits and some local authority housing provision. These are also set out in the Home Office policy document, ‘Modernised Guidance on Public Funds’ and are outlined here.¹⁶

The following benefits are classed as ‘public funds’ for immigration purposes:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer Support Payment
• Carer’s Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance Supplement
• Child Benefit
• Child Disability Payment
• Child Winter Heating Assistance
• Council Tax Reduction
• Disability Living Allowance
• Domestic Rate Relief (Northern Ireland)
• Housing Benefit
• Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income Related Employment and Support Allowance 
• Pension Age Disability Payment
• Pension Age Winter Heating Payment
• Personal Independence Payment
• Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance
• Scottish Child Payment
• Scottish Welfare Fund
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Social Fund payments (e.g. Budgeting Loan, Sure Start Maternity Grant, Funeral Payment, Cold Weather Payment
  and Winter Fuel Payment)
• State Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• Winter Heating Payment

A person with NRPF will be excluded from claiming the above benefits unless an exception applies.

The following exceptions mean that a person may be able to claim some of the benefits that are classed as public funds when they have leave to remain with NRPF without this affecting their immigration status:

• They are a national of a country that has a reciprocal arrangement with the UK, as listed in the Home Office guidance.
• If they have a European Economic Area (EEA) national family member, including a British citizen, for example, a parent with leave to remain with NRPF who has a British child, they may be able to claim child benefit.
• They make a joint claim for tax credits with a partner who has recourse to public funds, for example, a British citizen.
• They have Indefinite Leave to Enter/Remain as an adult dependent relative during the first five years they are in the UK (in which time they can claim non-means tested benefits).

If a person with NRPF is unsure about whether an exception applies, they should seek advice from a benefits adviser and an immigration adviser before making a claim.

A person who is lawfully present in the UK and has the NRPF condition may be able to claim the following benefits if they have been in work or have paid National Insurance contributions:

• Bereavement Support Payment
• Guardian’s Allowance
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Maternity Allowance
• New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Contribution Based Employment and Support Allowance
• New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance and Contribution Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• State Pension
• Statutory Parental Payments (Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay)
• Statutory Sick Pay

For further guidance on migrant rights and entitlements to social security benefits, local authority staff can contact the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) Advice Line for free, confidential advice.

Social Security Scotland Benefits
In the past few years, a number of benefits have been devolved to Scotland, and these are administered by Social Security Scotland. Most of these benefits have been added to the Home Office ‘public funds’ list however the following Social Security Scotland benefits are available to people with NRPF:

• Best Start Foods – a pre-paid card from pregnancy up to when a child turns three for families on certain benefits to help buy healthy food. To be eligible, the applicant must (1) be responsible for at least one child under 3 who is a British citizen (not including pregnancies); (2) have a family income of £1954.80 or less a month after tax for a couple or £1652.25 or less a month after tax for a single adult, (3) not be able to claim public funds due to their immigration status or lack of immigration status, and (4) be resident in Scotland.
• Young Carer Grant – an annual payment of more than £359.65 for people 16, 17 or 18 who care for people who get a disability benefit from the DWP for an average of 16 hours a week or more. This can be accessed by people subject to the NRPF condition.
• Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment – one off payment of up to £707.25 from 24 weeks in pregnancy up until a baby turns 6 months for families who get certain benefits. Some under-18s with NRPF can access this benefit. For people over 18 with NRPF, they can access this only if a member of the household (a partner, for example) can prove they are in receipt of a qualifying benefit. This is also the case for the BSG Early Learning and School Age Payments.

The following Scottish social security benefits are accessible to people with NRPF only if a member of the household (a partner, for example) can prove they are in receipt of a qualifying benefit:

• Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment – one off payment of £294.70 when a child is between two and three years and six months for families who get certain benefits.
• Best Start Grant School Age Payment – one off payment of £294.70 when a child would normally start primary one for families who get certain benefits.

The following Scottish social security benefits are not accessible to people with NRPF:

• Adult Disability Payment – a payment providing extra money to help people who have a long-term illness or a disability that affects their everyday life. It replaces Personal Independence Payment people in Scotland previously delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions.
• Carer’s Allowance Supplement – an automatic payment made twice a year to people who get Carer’s Allowance through the DWP on certain dates each year.
• Carer Support Payment – a payment to help people who are carers. Those eligible receive £86.45 a week.
• Child Disability Payment – a payment providing extra money to help with the costs of caring for a child with a disability or ill-health condition. It replaces Disability Living Allowance for children in Scotland that was previously delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions.
• Child Winter Heating Assistance – a £265.50 payment to help families of a child or young person in receipt of the highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance for Children, enhanced rate of daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, the highest rate of the care component of Child Disability payment or the enhanced rate of daily living component of Adult Disability payment, to help people on low income to meet heating needs.
• Funeral Support Payment – money towards the costs of a funeral for people on certain benefits who are responsible for paying for a funeral.
• Job Start Payment – £294.70 (or £471.50 if the main carer of any children) for 16 to 24 year olds who have been on certain benefits for six months or more to help with the costs of starting a job.
• Pension Age Disability Payment – a payment for people of state pension age with care needs due to a long-term health condition or disability. There is a higher (£114.60 per week) and lower (£76.70 per week) rate depending on the recipient’s care needs.
• Pension Age Winter Heating Payment – a payment for people of state pension age to pay their heating bills. It is paid once a year and the amount depends on age, the type of accommodation you live in and the benefits you receive. 
• Scottish Adult Disability Allowance – this benefit has been devolved and replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for adults in Scotland.
• Scottish Child Payment – a unique to Scotland benefit that gives qualifying parents and carers £112.80 every four weeks to help towards the costs of looking after each child under 16, for families who get certain qualifying benefits.
• Winter Heating Payment – a yearly payment of £62 to help people on low income benefits who might have extra heating needs during the winter. To be eligible an individual must be in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least one day in the qualifying week.

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3.2 Social Housing Allocation 

If a non-EEA national requires leave to enter or remain in the UK they will not be eligible to make an application to the local authority’s mainstream housing allocations list for a social housing tenancy,  unless they are in a particular class/group of people, including:

• Refugee
• Person with Humanitarian Protection
• Person with Leave to Remain granted outside of the Immigration Rules (this could also be referred to as Discretionary Leave to Remain) when they do not have NRPF as a condition of their leave
• Person with Settled Status or some other form of Indefinite Leave to Enter or Remain who is habitually resident in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or Channel Islands¹⁷
• Person with Pre-Settled Status, subject to being able to meet the Right to Reside Test
• Person with Leave to Remain under the Ukraine Schemes
• Full-time student when certain circumstances apply
• Person with Leave to Remain under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (‘Dubs leave’)¹⁸

The full list can be found in the Persons Subject to Immigration Control (Housing Authority Accommodation and Homelessness) Order 2000.

A person with NRPF can be allocated a property by a housing association where they have a housing need under the housing association’s allocation policy. They can apply for housing with a housing association either directly to the association or via a common housing register where this is in operation. If they obtain a tenancy in this way, then it will not be considered to be a public fund for immigration purposes. However, they will not be eligible to claim Housing Benefit, so may face difficulties meeting their rent payments if they are not able to work or have a low income.

However, when a person is allocated housing by a housing association where they have applied for housing to a local authority who then nominates them to a housing association under a nomination agreement, or to discharge homelessness duties, this would be a public fund for immigration purposes.

For more information, see:

• 2.1 Common types of immigration status
• 14 EEA nationals and family members

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3.3 Homelessness Assistance

If a person requires leave to enter or remain in the UK they will not be eligible to make a homelessness application or receive temporary homeless accommodation under part II of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, unless they are in a particular class/ group of people, including:

• Refugee
• Person with Humanitarian Protection
• Person with Leave to Remain granted outside of the Immigration Rules (this could be also referred to as Discretionary Leave to Remain) when they do not have NRPF as a condition of their leave
• Person with Settled Status or some other form of Indefinite Leave to Enter or Remain who is habitually resident in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or Channel Islands¹⁹
• Person with Pre-Settled Status, subject to being able to meet the Right to Reside Test
• Person with Leave to Remain under the Ukraine Schemes
• Person with Leave to Remain under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (leave given to unaccompanied children who entered the UK under the ‘Dubs amendment’)

The full list can be found in the Persons Subject to Immigration Control (Housing Authority Accommodation and Homelessness) Order 2000.

Duty to Accept Homelessness Applications

The Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 does not require the local authority to decide whether a person is eligible for homelessness assistance, but enquiries regarding this would need to be made in order to correctly apply the restrictions that are set out in immigration legislation (as above). A local authority should accept a homeless application if it believes that someone may be eligible and may be homeless.

Duty to Provide Temporary Accommodation

Temporary accommodation should be provided whilst the local authority investigates the application, which may include establishing the applicant’s immigration status. The local authority will need to decide on (1) whether the person is homeless and (2) whether they are intentionally homeless.

Prior to 29th November 2022, local authorities might also have considered whether the applicant had a local connection to the area; however these provisions of the Act have been suspended for all local authorities in Scotland (although not those in other parts of the UK).

A local authority can make charges for temporary accommodation. Such charges must be reasonable and may be subject to challenge by a homeless person. Where a local authority decides to refer the person to another local authority area, accommodation should be provided until such time as the referral to the other local authority area has been finally decided between the two local authorities.

Normally, there is an ongoing duty to provide temporary accommodation whilst the local authority reviews its decision on a homeless application at the request of the person. However, some people can only be provided with temporary homeless accommodation whilst their review is being decided, where this is necessary to prevent a breach of their human rights.

For more on local authority duties to accept applications and provide temporary accommodation, refer to the Scottish Government’s Homelessness Code of Guidance.

Mixed Households

Special rules apply to homelessness applications from a ‘mixed’
household, for example, where there are family members who are British citizens
and others who have the NRPF condition on their Leave to Remain. A mixed
household is where some members are eligible for homeless services, and others
are not. The rules around eligibility for homeless services are complex and
subject to change. Persons who are ‘subject to immigration control’ are
ineligible for assistance, unless they are in a class of persons specified by
the Secretary of State in secondary legislation. 

It is important for members of a mixed household who are NRPF to obtain
both housing law advice and immigration advice when a homeless application is
being made which may include them.

If the main applicant is a British or Irish citizen, then the
presence of ineligible family members (including those with NRPF) is taken into
account for the purposes of determining the homeless application. Where the
local authority have found the applicant to be homeless, threatened with
homelessness or with a local connection to their local authority area because
of the ineligible household member/s (referred to here as a
‘restricted person’) this will be treated as a restricted case. In a restricted
case a local authority will look to end its duty by making an offer of housing
in the private rented sector. 

It should be noted that if an ineligible family member is disabled or
has other vulnerabilities, and is requiring homelessness assistance, then they
may be able to apply to the Home Office for a ‘change of conditions’ and remove
their NRPF condition. A referral for specialist immigration advice is required
for this.

If the main applicant has Leave to Remain without NRPF, but
is not British or Irish,
then the presence of NRPF family members is not taken into account
when considering the application for the purposes of determining whether or not
the household is homeless,
or has established a local connection. This means that a ‘mixed’ household
family in this situation may not be considered as homeless if there is enough
space for the applicant and eligible family members. Where the main
applicant has Leave to Remain and is eligible to apply for homeless assistance
but has ineligible family members, this application should be treated no
differently to any other homeless application where the reason for homelessness
is unrelated to the presence of the ineligible members. For example, where someone has been
granted refugee status and is asked to leave home office accommodation but
their other family members still have immigration or asylum claims outstanding, this family should be
able to request homeless assistance for the entire family from the local
authority.

When an entire family are ineligible for homelessness assistance, then
a referral to social services for a Getting It
Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) assessment should be made to
establish whether duties under section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
arise.

CASE STUDY

Alana has Leave to Remain in the UK with a condition of NRPF. Her son, Dmitri,
is 10 years old and is a British citizen. Alana was working on a zero-hour
contract and recently lost many of her hours, resulting in financial problems. She
built up rent arrears and was evicted from her private rented accommodation.

She has asked the local authority for help after being told by a friend
to present as homeless with Dmitri. The Housing Officer recognises that she is
not eligible for homelessness support because she is NRPF. Dmitri is a British
citizen but he is only 10 years old, so is too young to be the main applicant
on a homeless application.

The Housing Officer makes two referrals. The first is to social work
services for support under section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. The
second is to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) team, which
partners with COSLA to support local authorities with immigration issues. IOM
believes that there are strong grounds to make a ‘change of conditions’
application to the Home Office, to remove the NRPF condition. They help her to
submit the application and the local authority support Alana and Dmitri in
temporary accommodation under section 22 of the 1995 Act while this work is
ongoing.

Alana’s
NRPF condition is removed and she makes a homeless application for her and
Dmitri. Both are now eligible and both their circumstances are taken into
account when considering the application.  

For more information, see:

• 2.1 Common types of immigration status
• 6.4 Establishing immigration status
• 7 Social services’ support – exclusion
• 15 EEA nationals and family members 

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